In February, Microsoft officially announced that it would begin the transition of its users of the desktop Windows Live Messenger software to Skype on April 8th. Today, that process has indeed started as English Live Messenger users are now no longer able to sign onto Live Messenger.

As previously revealed, the actual transition will take the rest of the month to affect nearly all of Live Messenger's users. Microsoft says it will be complete on April 30th for Brazilian Portuguese users. After that date, the only place in the world where Live Messenger will continue to be used is in mainland China, due to the program's service being handled in that country by a third party company.

Skype's Twitter account has posted up a link to a slideshow that shows people how they can move their Live Messenger account to Skype. It features "James", a fictional person who has already made the move from Live Messenger to Skype. James is described as "the city's most stylish accountancy student" but doesn't mention which city he is from. Apparently, this city thinks a gray hoodie is "stylish".

In any case, Microsoft has also taken the time to answer some questions from users about the transition, including word that children who have a Live Messenger account can still use Skype with their Microsoft account. MSN Premium customers that use Windows who have had Live Messenger support as part of their subscription will move to Skype starting today, with other platforms to be addressed at at later date.